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Top journalism schools in Australia
Short courses
Study journalism online with Jschool's short courses.
Newswriting Basics is an additional new micro course from Jschool.
February, 2010: The most recent survey shows that Jschool is again among top-ranked journalism schools in Australia, with 100 percent of graduating students giving it "high" or "very high" satisfaction levels.
Jschool is one of only two Australian journalism courses to have received the top rating in the latest comparative survey. Jschool is also the only journalism school to have been Number 1 four years in a row. For comparisons across the past four years, see Rankings of journalism schools
Recent survey results
Top journalism schools in Australia (2007)
SEPTEMBER, 2008: Jschool is among top-ranked journalism schools in Australia, with 100 percent of graduating students giving it "high" or "very high" satisfaction levels in the most recent national survey.
Jschool is one of three Australian journalism courses receiving the top rating.
2007 survey
Top journalism schools in Australia (2006)
AUGUST, 2007: Jschool has again been ranked among the Number 1 journalism schools in Australia, with 100 percent of graduating students giving it "high" or "very high" satisfaction levels.
Jschool is one of three Australian journalism courses receiving the top rating, and one of only two journalism colleges to have been number 1 in two successive years.
2006 survey
Top journalism schools in Australia (2005)
[See also: Sally Jackson: "What makes a good school of journalism" (The Australian, 21 Sep 2006). and also: "Why we need journalism school rankings" (Editorialiste Blogspot, May 2007).]
Which is the best journalism school in Australia? There is no national "league table" of journalism courses and programs, but surveys of graduating students' assessments provide one important basis for ranking journalism schools and colleges. Annual course experience questionnaires provide evidence of new graduates' opinions of their courses, with levels of satisfaction gauged on the basis of student responses to specific questions designed to tap various aspects of their courses.
Surveys of their graduates are conducted each year by universities with results collated nationally by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia (www.graduatecareers.com.au). Separately, the basic survey instrument, where respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement on a five-point scale, is administered to Jschool students after completion of their course.
Comparing the results, Jschool ranks as one of the top journalism schools in the three core scales: overall satisfaction, good teaching and generic skills.
For each scale the percentages indicating satisfaction or high satisfaction ("agree" plus "strongly agree" responses) for institutions teaching undergraduate journalism courses are as follows:
2005 survey
Overall satisfaction
Question: Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of this course.
| Position | College | Percentage (% high + very high satisfaction) |
|---|---|---|
Top Five | ||
| =1. | Jschool: Journalism Education & Training | 100 |
| =1. | University of the Sunshine Coast | 100 |
| =1. | University of Western Sydney | 100 |
| =4. | Murdoch University | 88 |
| =4. | University of Technology, Sydney | 88 |
Next Five | ||
| 6. | University of Canberra | 77 |
| 7. | La Trobe University | 75 |
| 8. | University of South Australia | 74 |
| 9. | Deakin University | 73 |
| 10. | Monash University | 72 |
| 11. | University of Tasmania | 70 |
| 12. | University of Southern Queensland | 68 |
| 13. | Griffith University | 67 |
| 14. | Queensland University of Technology | 63 |
| =15. | James Cook University | 61 |
| =15. | Curtin University of Technology | 61 |
| =17. | Bond University | 60 |
| =17. | RMIT University | 60 |
| 19. | Edith Cowan University | 57 |
| =20. | University of Newcastle | 52 |
| =20. | University of Queensland | 52 |
| =22. | Charles Sturt University | 50 |
| =22. | University of Wollongong | 50 |
| 23. | Southern Cross University | 45 |
| NATIONAL AVERAGE (Overall satisfaction) | 66.5 | |
Good teaching scale
| Position | College | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Top Five | ||
| 1. | University of the Sunshine Coast | 92 |
| 2. | Jschool: Journalism Education & Training | 83 |
| 3. | Murdoch University | 68 |
| 4. | University of Tasmania | 67 |
| 5. | University of Western Sydney | 67 |
Next Five | ||
| 6. | University of Canberra | 66 |
| 7. | University of Technology, Sydney | 62 |
| 8. | Deakin University | 58 |
| 9. | La Trobe University | 57 |
| 10. | James Cook University | 55 |
| 11. | University of South Australia | 54 |
| 12. | University of Southern Queensland | 53 |
| 13. | RMIT University | 52 |
| 14. | University of Newcastle | 49 |
| 15. | Southern Cross University | 46 |
| 16. | Edith Cowan University | 43 |
| 17. | Monash University | 43 |
| =18. | Griffith University | 42 |
| =18. | University of Queensland | 42 |
| 20. | Bond University | 40 |
| 21. | Queensland University of Technology | 39 |
| 22. | Curtin University of Technology | 38 |
| =23. | Charles Sturt University | 25 |
| =23. | University of Wollongong | 25 |
| NATIONAL AVERAGE (Good teaching) | 50.8 | |
Generic skills scale
| Position | College | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Top Five | ||
| 1. | Murdoch University | 84 |
| 2. | Jschool: Journalism Education & Training | 81 |
| 3. | University of the Sunshine Coast | 75 |
| =4. | La Trobe University | 71 |
| =4. | University of Technology, Sydney | 71 |
Next Five | ||
| =6. | Curtin University of Technology | 70 |
| =6. | University of Canberra | 70 |
| 8. | University of Western Sydney | 69 |
| =9. | James Cook University | 68 |
| =9. | RMIT University | 68 |
| 11. | Griffith University | 67 |
| 12. | University of Newcastle | 66 |
| 13. | University of South Australia | 63 |
| 14. | Deakin University | 62 |
| 15. | University of Queensland | 61 |
| 16. | Southern Cross University | 57 |
| =17. | Monash University | 56 |
| =17. | University of Tasmania | 56 |
| =19. | Edith Cowan University | 55 |
| =19. | Queensland University of Technology | 55 |
| 21. | Bond University | 53 |
| 22. | University of Southern Queensland | 51 |
| 23. | Charles Sturt University | 42 |
| 24. | University of Wollongong | 33 |
| NATIONAL AVERAGE (Generic skills) | 64.5% | |
|
Percentages are rounded = denotes equal rank | ||
See also tuition fee comparisons)
What makes a good school of journalism
Sally Jackson
The Australian, September 21, 2006, p.17
JOURNALISM courses run by the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Western Sydney and the private Brisbane college Jschool have been judged the best by their students.
All the graduates of those courses who returned questionnaires in the annual Graduate Careers Council of Australia survey said they were very satisfied or satisfied.
Rounding out the top five were Perth’s Murdoch University and Sydney’s University of Technology, with 88 per cent of their graduates declaring themselves satisfied.
The University of Newcastle, University of Queensland, Charles Sturt University, the University of Wollongong and Southern Cross University had satisfaction ratings of 50 per cent, meaning half their journalism major graduates were very dissatisfied, dissatisfied or neutral about their experience.
The annual graduate course experience survey polls the attitudes of graduates towards their courses and the skills they acquire through tertiary education.
As a private college, Jschool wasn’t included in the survey, but founder Professor John Henningham distributed the same questionnaire to his half dozen graduates. He also mined the published survey results to produce the league table. The survey showed newer, smaller schools were outdoing better-known courses which provided less individual attention and field work, Professor Henningham said. “The problem with the bigger courses is they have huge numbers. Hundreds of students begin each year and … journalism is just one subject they do. I don’t think they offer up a great camaraderie or a real excitement about journalism.”
Students appreciated individual feedback and also valued practical training in skills such as shorthand over academic theorising, Henningham said.
“The approach to journalism education we have developed involves lots of reporting and writing and a real focus on journalism as a career, not simply on having book knowledge.”
Overall, a national average of 66.5 per cent of journalism-school graduates were satisfied with their course and 64.5 per cent were satisfied with their generic skills, but only 50.8 per cent were satisfied with the teaching of their course.
Dr Stephen Lamble, head of the communication school at Sunshine Coast, endorsed Jschool’s league table, saying his university had also examined the raw data with the same results. Sunshine Coast was among the top three performers in the survey, a result Dr Lamble attributed to its small class sizes, experienced teachers and hands-on training. “We have a strong practical emphasis based on good sound theory,” he said. “Every one of our lecturers is a working journalist or a former journalist. As far as I’m aware, we’re the only journalism course apart from Jschool that offers every student an internship as part of the course.”
Sunshine Coast turned out 30 to 50 journalism graduates a year and would limit its course size to that number, Dr Lamble said. “We have close to 100 per cent employment of our graduates.”
Although the University of Wollongong ranked poorly in the survey, Dr Stephen Tanner, head of its school of journalism and creative writing, said post-graduates had been very supportive of its program. However, “at an undergraduate level we recognised there was a need to increase the number of journalism subjects the students do,” he said. From next year a full bachelor of journalism degree with more than 20 subjects will be offered.
“That is in response to concerns students have raised about the number and range of subjects on offer here.”
SURVEY RESULTS
Course and percentage satisfaction rating
1. Jschool: Journalism Education & Training: 100%
1. University of the Sunshine Coast: 100%
1. University of Western Sydney: 100%
4. Murdoch University: 88%
4. University of Technology, Sydney: 88%
6. University of Canberra: 77%
7. La Trobe University: 75%
8. University of South Australia: 74%
9. Deakin University: 73%
10. Monash University: 72%
11. University of Tasmania: 70%
12. University of Southern Queensland: 68%
13. Griffith University: 67%
14. Queensland University of Technology: 63%
15. James Cook University: 61%
15. Curtin University of Technology: 61%
17. Bond University: 60%
17. RMIT University: 60%
19. Edith Cowan University: 57%
20. University of Newcastle: 52%
20. University of Queensland: 52%
22, Charles Sturt University: 50%
22. University of Wollongong: 50%
23. Southern Cross University: 45%
National Average: 66.5%